Ippolito d'Este

Ippolito d'Este (20 March 1479-3 September 1520) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Esztergom. Ippolito was the younger brother of Alfonso d'Este, and he was an important member of the College of Cardinals during the Italian Wars.

Biography
Ippolito d'Este was born in Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara on 20 March 1479, the son of Ercole I d'Este and Eleanor of Naples. He was destined for a career in the Catholic Church, and he was tonsured at the age of six and named Abbot Commendatory of Pomposa Abbey. Two years later, he was named Archbishop of Esztergom in Hungary, and he administed Esztergom from 1487 to 1494. He studied in Hungary and had his own princely court; he was the nephew of King Matthias Corvinus by marriage, as his aunt had married him. Once the King died in 1490, Ippolito was viewed as a foreigner who enjoyed the fruits of his Hungarian archbishopric, and he escaped the plague by returning to Rome. On 20 September 1493, Pope Alexander VI made Ippolito a cardinal, and he became Archbishop of Milan in 1497 and Cardinal of Capua in 1502. He soon fell out with the Pope due to his father Ercole's failure to assist the Pope with the capture of Cardinal Della Rovere, and Pope Pius III, Alexander's successor, made Ippolito Bishop of Ferrara in 1503. In 1505, he survived a plot against his life by his brother, Ferrante d'Este, who was imprisoned for life. Ippolito then proceeded to assist King Louis XII of France during the War of the League of Cambrai, regaining the Polesine territories that the Este had lost to the Republic of Venice in 1484. On 27 July 1509, Pope Julius II recalled Ippolito to Rome, but - feeling threatened by both the King of France and the Pope - Ippolito decided to flee to Hungary. In 1514, he and his family were pardoned by Pope Leo X for their anti-papal acts, and he gave the Archbishopric of Milan to his nephew Ippolito II d'Este in 1519. He died in Ferrara in 1520 at the age of 41.